But it passed away like the flowing of a river which does not fertilize the ground.' The Rosary had not been learnt, much less understood. I was discouraged,' says Bartolo,

Was it, he asks, a Divine inspiration that suggested his next step? After consultation and discussion, he resolved upon commencing a mission, which, stirring souls by meditation on eternal truths, might awaken in these uncultured hearts the hope of pardon by means of devotion to Mary, and especially to the Rosary.'

It is singular to find the poor hero of our story only resortng in his last extremity to the power of Eternal Truth.

He had tried so many expedients: the distribution of medals, pictures, and crucifixes; the highly popular 'Tombola,' with its hundreds of prizes so cheaply acquired by the outlay of a halfpenny; the bombs and crackers and rockets, and all the artillery of Neapolitan fireworks; the diverting sack-races; the inspiriting music of the Pagani band; and though all had pleased for the moment, all had failed to win him converts for the devotion of the Rosary.'

So at long last he bethinks himself of Eternal Truth, and judges that ignorant hearts may be touched and enlightened by the eloquent discourses that deal with time, eternity, sin, and the judgment of God on sin, and the hope of salvation. So touched, these hearts may be gained to' the devotion of the Rosary.'

Surely here are illuminating facts as to the 'true inwardness' of the religion of Rome working in common life.

It now behoved Bartolo to make arrangements for his mission, and to secure three suitable missioners. After long and fruitless attempts the Bishop of Nola quite unexpectedly authorized 'three holy priests' to undertake the missionthe Canonico Santarpia, the Canonico D. Giuseppe Rossi, and the Apostolic Missionary D. Michele Gentile. They were hospitably entertained by the Longo family in their casino.

This mission is chiefly memorable because it was now, in a conference between Signor Longo, the three missioners,

and the Bishop of Nola, that the plan for building a new church, a church of the Rosary, first took rise. Bartolo had expressed to the Bishop his long-cherished wish to erect an altar to the Mother of God, under the title of the Most Holy Rosary, to keep alive that beautiful devotion so useful to the soul, so highly approved of the Church'; and the Bishop, deeply touched with the sad condition' of the people of Valle, declared that he felt it his duty' to provide a church in this region which could accommodate all the population.

For many years, it appeared, the Bishop had meditated this subject, and tried to find a proper site. The zeal of Bartolo, his possession in right of his wife of a small estate in Valle, now removed every difficulty.

The full episcopal sanction for Bartolo's cherished enterprise was secured, and henceforth it became the business of his life, not only to 'propagate the Rosary,' but to create a sanctuary which should be a world centre of that 'beautiful devotion.'

We have now to describe his success.

V

THE SANCTUARY CHURCH

ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MYTHIC

MARY

RONTING the sea, on the ground sloping gently back

FRO

ward toward the heights of Vesuvius and Somma, stands the domed church, slightly removed from the Provincial Road, and approached by a flight of steps. We pass from the full blaze of day into the 'dim religious light' of the interior, and realize that we are now within the mysterious precincts of the sacred fane where are really being enacted sad tragedies of soul life and mysteries other than those of Eleusis, but as pagan, as antichristian, perhaps more hurtful.

The church is no cathedral as to its dimensions, but is certainly beautiful, simple and pure in style, as are few churches in these regions. You acknowledge the truth of the assurances pressed upon you that all is real, nothing imitation; nor is there anything gaudy. Gold, silver, marble, are really what they seem to be; the colouring of picture and image and mosaic is at once rich and harmonious. There is majestic symmetry in the arch from which springs the dome of the high altar, over which reigns enthroned the miraculous picture of the Virgin-that centre of thaumaturgic energy which makes the church a sanctuary, and imbues with healing power the very oil of the silver lamps burning before the shrine, the very petals of the roses that adorn the altar, the very dust of the sacred pavement. The enamelled blue ceiling is studded with rock-crystal stars,

through which shines the electric light, giving the effect of a star-lit sky. Over the entrance hangs the organ gallery, in a kind of vestibule. The organ, you are informed, is one of the best in Italy, costing about four thousand pounds sterling.

The church is cruciform. The altar in the right arm of the cross is dedicated to St. Joseph; that in the left arm is dedicated to the guardian angel of the Sanctuary, St. Michael. We shall deal separately with each altar and altar-piece, this being necessary to show how Rome gathers to herself the various devotions' or 'religions' that have taken hold of the peoples, and makes them profitable to the treasury of the Papacy. But now we call your attention to the painting enthroned above the high altar.

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It is the picture of 'the Madonna of the Rosary of New Pompei,' which, by the high command of the Church, is distinguished from all other Madonnas, and is not to be confounded with other Madonnas of the Rosary, but recognised as the Madonna of the Rosary of New Pompei.

This is the talisman of the Sanctuary, shedding thaumaturgic grace over all the appointments of the establishment. Bought originally for a few francs, it was handed over to Don Bartolo for use in the little congregation of the Rosary at Valle de Pompei. It was a loan only,' says the heir It was a gift,' retorts Don Bartolo.

of the original possessor. Strange that a holy, wonder-working picture should be the theme of such a dispute, that it should be called in question before a civil tribunal !

It is too true, however, that the gains which the picture has brought to New Pompei have stirred up the heirs of Father Radente, from whom Don Bartolo received it, to claim it as their property.

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Don Bartolo has resigned the church, with all its belongings, to the Pope, but not so are the heirs of Don Radente appeased. The picture,' they say,' was not Bartolo's to give ; he held it merely as a loan, and as a loan made before its value as a miraculous image had become manifest.'

Now it is found well worth while to dispute the possession

of the picture, once so lightly esteemed, with the too successful Bartolo, and the case of the Madonna has been several times before the courts.

This picture is the symbol of the mediatorial reign of Mary.

Turn now to the altar with the picture of the 'Transit of St. Joseph.' Here we may see how myth begets myth. The venerable fable of the Assumption of the Madonna has a natural corollary in the Transit of St. Joseph,' both extranatural. Already it is recognised that the position of Joseph in the kingdom of grace ought to be higher than that of Mary. 'Mary commands Jesus as His Mother; Joseph commands Mary as her Husband: Is not the husband the head

of all ?'

Such reasonings may be heard even from English Romanists.

We note in passing the altar of St. Michael the Archangel, the protector of the Sanctuary.

The altars to St. Dominic and to St. Francis of Assisi call to remembrance two widely differing personalities—one the stern Inquisitor, to whom the Church owes the Rosary, which, Pope Leo says, is a charm potent to cure all the ills of the world; one the sweet-souled poverello (poor little one) of Jesus Christ, who sought in all humility and love to follow his Divine Master. Their respective followers had no love for each other. The reason why Dominic and Francis are honoured alike in the Sanctuary Church is to show that here all rivalries are reconciled, and brother wars no more with brother.

We turn to the picture of the visionary nun, Marguerite Marie Alacoque, remembering that to her hysterical ecstasies we owe the widely popular Devotion of the Sacred Heart, a devotion based on the hallucinations of a radically unhealthy mind. Her ideal of saintly love for Christ is so grossly material, not to say fleshly, that her actual words are hardly printable.

The altar and picture of St. Vincent Ferreri is installed in the Sanctuary to symbolize all the purgatorial arrangements